Vehicle control system for detecting object and method thereof

ABSTRACT

A vehicle control system may include a controller that detects an object outside a vehicle, calculates an angle based on a ratio of a relative speed between the object and the vehicle to a speed of the vehicle, and updates a phase curve reflecting a phase distortion of an input signal based on the calculated angle.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of priority to Korean PatentApplication No. 10-2021-0059538, filed in the Korean IntellectualProperty Office on May 7, 2021, the entire contents of which areincorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a technique for detecting an object ina vehicle control system.

BACKGROUND

A vehicle control system mounted on a vehicle may detect an object inthe front, side, rear, or side rear using a sensor. For example, thevehicle control system may calculate the angle between the vehicle andthe object through a phase mono-pulse algorithm used in radar. The phasemono-pulse algorithm estimates the incident angle (or output angle) ofan input signal through the distance between two antennas and the phasedifference between the input signals incident to the two antennas. Acurve representing the relationship between the phase difference and theoutput angle may be referred to as a phase curve. Because the phasemono-pulse algorithm has the advantage that angular ambiguity does notoccur even from the side, compared to a beamforming scheme, a sensordevice (e.g., radar) to which the phase mono-pulse algorithm is appliedis mounted on the rear side portion of the vehicle so that it ispossible to calculate an angle between the vehicle and the object.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure has been made to solve the above-mentionedproblems occurring in the prior art while advantages achieved by theprior art are maintained intact.

In an angle calculation scheme using a phase curve and a phasedifference like a phase mono-pulse algorithm, angle ambiguity may beminimized when the phase difference and the output angle of an inputsignal have a one-to-one correspondence. Therefore, although a sensorshould be installed in a position where there is no phase distortion ofthe signal, when a bumper is mounted on a vehicle, phase distortion isinevitable due to diffuse reflection in the bumper, and a sensormounting position that minimizes phase distortion or does not exceed thelimit of distortion is required.

A sensor mounting location that minimizes phase distortion may varyslightly depending on the vehicle, and it is impossible to find theoptimal sensor mounting location by measuring the phase curve of asignal individually for each vehicle in consideration of time and cost.Although it is possible to consider a method of measuring the phasecurve of a signal for a few exemplary vehicles and generalizing it toindividual vehicles, compared to the manpower and financial consumptionincurred in the process of selecting an exemplary vehicle and measuringthe phase curve of a signal, it is impossible to accurately reflect thedeviation depending on the individual vehicle, so that the efficiencymay be reduced.

The technical problems to be solved by the present inventive concept arenot limited to the aforementioned problems, and any other technicalproblems not mentioned herein will be clearly understood from thefollowing description by those skilled in the art to which the presentdisclosure pertains.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a vehicle controlsystem may include a controller that detects an object outside avehicle, calculates an angle based on a ratio of a relative speedbetween the object and the vehicle to a speed of the vehicle, andupdates a phase curve reflecting a phase distortion of an input signalbased on the calculated angle.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a method ofoperating a vehicle control system may include detecting an objectoutside a vehicle, calculating an angle based on a ratio of a relativespeed between the object and the vehicle to a speed of the vehicle, andupdating a phase curve reflecting a phase distortion of an input signalbased on the calculated angle.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the presentdisclosure will be more apparent from the following detailed descriptiontaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a vehicle according to variousembodiments;

FIGS. 2A to 2D are views illustrating an operation of calculating anangle based on a phase mono-pulse algorithm;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a vehicle control systemaccording to various embodiments;

FIG. 4 is a detailed block diagram illustrating a signal processoraccording to various embodiments;

FIGS. 5 to 7 are views illustrating an operation of updating a phasecurve based on a relative speed according to various embodiments;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of calculating an anglebetween an object and a vehicle based on a relative speed according tovarious embodiments;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of collecting angle dataaccording to various embodiments;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an operation for updating a phasecurve in accordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 11 is a graph illustrating a phase curve in which a speed error isreflected according to various embodiments; and

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of replacing at least apart of a phase curve according to various embodiments.

With regard to description of drawings, the same or similar elements maybe marked by the same or similar reference numerals.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Hereinafter, various embodiments of the present disclosure may bedescribed with reference to accompanying drawings. Accordingly, those ofordinary skill in the art will recognize that modification, equivalent,and/or alternative on the various embodiments described herein can bevariously made without departing from the scope and spirit of thepresent disclosure.

It should be appreciated that various embodiments of the presentdisclosure and the terms used therein are not intended to limit thetechnological features set forth herein to particular embodiments andinclude various changes, equivalents, or replacements for acorresponding embodiment. With regard to the description of thedrawings, similar reference numerals may be used to refer to similar orrelated elements. It is to be understood that a singular form of a nouncorresponding to an item may include one or more of the things, unlessthe relevant context clearly indicates otherwise. As used herein, eachof such phrases as “A or B,” “at least one of A and B,” “at least one ofA or B,” “A, B, or C,” “at least one of A, B, and C,” and “at least oneof A, B, or C,” may include any one of, or all possible combinations ofthe items enumerated together in a corresponding one of the phrases. Asused herein, such terms as “1st” and “2nd,” or “first” and “second” maybe used to simply distinguish a corresponding component from another,and does not limit the components in other aspect (e.g., importance ororder). It is to be understood that if an element (e.g., a firstelement) is referred to, with or without the term “operatively” or“communicatively”, as “coupled with,” “coupled to,” “connected with,” or“connected to” another element (e.g., a second element), it means thatthe element may be coupled with the other element directly (e.g.,wiredly), wirelessly, or via a third element.

As used herein, the term “module” may include a unit implemented inhardware, software, or firmware, and may interchangeably be used withother terms, for example, “logic,” “logic block,” “part,” or“circuitry”. A module may be a single integral component, or a minimumunit or part thereof, adapted to perform one or more functions. Forexample, according to an embodiment, the module may be implemented in aform of an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC).

Various embodiments as set forth herein may be implemented as software(e.g., the program) including one or more instructions that are storedin a storage medium (e.g., internal memory or external memory) that isreadable by a machine. For example, the machine may invoke at least oneof the one or more instructions stored in the storage medium, andexecute it, with or without using one or more other components under thecontrol of the processor. This allows the machine to be operated toperform at least one function according to the at least one instructioninvoked. The one or more instructions may include a code generated by acomplier or a code executable by an interpreter. The machine-readablestorage medium may be provided in the form of a non-transitory storagemedium. Wherein, the term “non-transitory” simply means that the storagemedium is a tangible device, and does not include a signal (e.g., anelectromagnetic wave), but this term does not differentiate betweenwhere data is semi-permanently stored in the storage medium and wherethe data is temporarily stored in the storage medium.

According to an embodiment, a method according to various embodiments ofthe disclosure may be included and provided in a computer programproduct. The computer program product may be traded as a product betweena seller and a buyer. The computer program product may be distributed inthe form of a machine-readable storage medium (e.g., compact disc readonly memory (CD-ROM)), or be distributed (e.g., downloaded or uploaded)online via an application store or between two user devices directly. Ifdistributed online, at least part of the computer program product may betemporarily generated or at least temporarily stored in themachine-readable storage medium, such as memory of the manufacturer'sserver, a server of the application store, or a relay server.

According to various embodiments, each component (e.g., a module or aprogram) of the above-described components may include a single entityor multiple entities. According to various embodiments, one or more ofthe above-described components may be omitted, or one or more othercomponents may be added. Alternatively or additionally, a plurality ofcomponents (e.g., modules or programs) may be integrated into a singlecomponent. In such a case, according to various embodiments, theintegrated component may still perform one or more functions of each ofthe plurality of components in the same or similar manner as they areperformed by a corresponding one of the plurality of components beforethe integration. According to various embodiments, operations performedby the module, the program, or another component may be carried outsequentially, in parallel, repeatedly, or heuristically, or one or moreof the operations may be executed in a different order or omitted, orone or more other operations may be added.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a vehicle according to various embodiments.

A vehicle 10 may include an application processor (AP) driver 105, afirst controller area network (CAN) 101, a second CAN 102, rear sensors110-1 and 110-2, lamp modules 120-1 and 120-2, power drivers 130-1 and130-2, a radar 140, a navigation system 150, a steering 160, a camera170, and wipers 180-1 and 180-2.

The AP driver 105 may be, for example, a control device for controllingcomponents in the vehicle 10. The AP driver 105 may be referred to as aprocessor or an electronic controller unit (ECU). The AP driver 105 maycontrol the components in the vehicle 10 through the first or second CAN101 or 102. The first CAN 101 and the second CAN 102 may be protocolsthat the AP driver 105 uses to control the components in the vehicle 10.For example, the AP driver 105 may control at least one of the camera170, the radar 140, the rear sensors 110-1 and 110-2, and the navigationsystem 150 through the first CAN 101 to perform the sensing of thevehicle 10 and its function, and may control the steering 160, a brake(not shown) and the speed of the vehicle 10 through the second CAN 102to control functions related to driving of the vehicle 10. The first CAN101 may be referred to as a private CAN (P-CAN), and the second CAN 102may be referred to as a chassis CAN (C-CAN).

The rear sensors 110-1 and 110-2 may be set to detect a blind spot thatthe driver of the vehicle 10 cannot detect (e.g., the rear side of thevehicle). For example, the rear sensors 110-1 and 110-2 may be radardevices configured to detect an object outside the vehicle 10 bytransmitting and receiving a signal in a specified frequency band. Therear sensors 110-1 and 110-2 may be used as blind spot detection (BSD)or blind-spot collision warning (BCW). The number and locations of therear sensors 110-1 and 110-2 are not limited to the example shown inFIG. 1.

The lamp modules 120-1 and 120-2 may include head lamps irradiatinglight to the front of the vehicle. According to an embodiment, the lampmodule 120-1 may include a digital micro-mirror device (DMD) including aplurality of micro mirrors, such that the vehicle 10 can more preciselycontrol the intensity and direction of light. According to anembodiment, each of the lamp modules 120-1 and 120-2 may be connected tothe AP driver 105 through a coaxial cable (e.g., a fakra cable). Each ofthe power drivers 130-1 and 130-2 may be configured to supply power tothe lamp modules 120-1 and 120-2, respectively.

The radar 140 may be configured to detect an object located in front ofthe vehicle 10. For example, the AP driver 105 may detect the location,speed, or direction of an object (e.g., a pedestrian or an obstacle) byusing the radar 140.

The camera 170 may obtain an image of the front of the vehicle 10. TheAP driver 105 may detect the location, speed, direction, shape, or sizeof an object located in front by analyzing the image obtained throughthe camera 170. In addition to the example shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle10 may further include at least one camera configured to obtain an imageof the rear of the vehicle 10 or a 360-degree space surrounding thevehicle 10.

The wipers 180-1 and 180-2 may secure the driver's view by removingrainwater placed on the windshield of the vehicle. In addition to theexample shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle 10 may further include at least onewiper configured to remove rainwater placed at the rear of the vehicle10. In addition, although FIG. 1 shows two wipers 180-1 and 180-2, thevehicle 10 may use one wiper.

Hereinafter, a method of correcting the phase distortion of a signal inan algorithm for calculating the angle between the vehicle 10 and anexternal object using the rear sensors 110-1 and 110-2 installed on therear side of the vehicle 10 will be described.

FIGS. 2A to 2D are views illustrating an operation of calculating anangle based on a phase mono-pulse algorithm.

When the distance d between the antennas and the frequency (f=w/2n) of asignal are given, a vehicle control system (e.g., 300 in FIG. 3)included in the vehicle 10 may calculate the angle θ between the vehicle10 (or the rear sensor) and the external object based on followingEquation 1 as shown in FIG. 2A.

$\begin{matrix}{\text{?} = {\sin^{- 1}\left( \text{?} \right)}} & \left\lbrack {{Equation}1} \right\rbrack\end{matrix}$ ?indicates text missing or illegible when filed

A phase difference corresponding to the angle may be generatedcorresponding to the distance between the antennas, and the vehiclecontrol system of FIG. 2B may generate a phase curve indicating thephase difference corresponding to the angle as shown in a first graph201. For example, the vehicle control system may compare the phasedifference Φ between signals incident on the two antennas with the phasecurve, and calculate the angle θ with the smallest phase differenceerror as shown in a second graph 202 of FIG. 2B.

In the case of a sensor (e.g., 140) mounted on the front of the vehicle10, surface treatment may be performed to minimize the signaldistortion, but a sensor mounted on the rear of the vehicle 10 (e.g.,110-1 or 110-2) may be disposed inside the bumper, so that distortionmay occur in the phase of the signal due to diffused reflection in thebumper. For example, referring to a third graph 203 of FIG. 2C, thephase curve measured in an electromagnetic wave anechoic environment hasthe same shape as the first phase curve 203-1, whereas a ripple mayoccur in the phase curve measured after installing the rear bumper ofthe vehicle 10 as in the second phase curve 203-2. When a ripple occurs,the one-to-one relationship between the phase difference and the outputangle is not established, which may lead to angle errors and ambiguity.For convenience of explanation, the algorithm for generating a phasecurve (e.g., 203-1) in an electromagnetic wave anechoic environment is asample phase curve (SPC), and the algorithm for generating a phase curve(e.g., 203-2) after installing the rear bumper may be referred to as anindividual phase curve (IPC).

The allowable angular error in angle measurement may be referred to as‘maximum required angular accuracy’. The sensor cannot be mounted at alocation in the phase curve where the angle error is out of the maximumrequired angular accuracy (e.g. 4 degrees). The maximum required angularaccuracy may vary depending on the distance between the vehicle 10 andthe object. For example, for the lateral position error between thevehicle 10 and the object to be within 1 m, the maximum allowable angleerror corresponding to the longitudinal position distance may beexpressed as shown in the fourth graph 204 of FIG. 2D. For example, anangular accuracy within 0.8 degrees is required at a distance of 80 mfrom the longitudinal position, whereas an angular accuracy of within3.8 degrees may be required at a distance of 15 m from the longitudinalposition. In a similar manner to the above, the maximum required angularaccuracy may vary depending on the angle range within the field of view(FOV) of the sensor. For example, reference number 205 of FIG. 2Dindicates the maximum required angular accuracy for each angle range ofthe sensor—110-2 mounted on the rear side of the vehicle 10. When it isassumed that angular accuracy within the first angle (e.g., 1 degree) isrequired in the range of 30 to 50 degrees, angular accuracy within asecond angle (e.g., 3 degrees) larger than the first angle may berequired in the range of −60 to 30 degrees. In addition, in the range of−75 to −60 degrees and 50 to 75 degrees, angular accuracy within a thirdangle (e.g., 4 degrees) greater than the second angle may be required.

As described above, although the vehicle control system is required touse the phase curve (IPC) in which the phase distortion due to thebumper of each vehicle is reflected when measuring the angle between thevehicle 10 and the object existing in the rear side of the vehicle 10,it is impossible to measure the IPC after installing the bumper of eachindividual vehicle in the production process in consideration of timeand cost, and the IPC cannot be applied to already produced vehicles.The scheme of measuring and generalizing the IPC of some examplevehicles may not accurately reflect the deviation of individual vehiclescompared to the manpower and resource consumption that occurs in theprocess of selecting an exemplary vehicle and measuring the phase curveof a signal, so the efficiency may be reduced. The vehicle controlsystem according to embodiments may generate and correct a phase curveby using a ratio of the relative speed between the vehicle and theobject to the speed of the vehicle, thereby increasing the accuracy ofangle calculation despite the phase distortion due to the bumper.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a vehicle control systemaccording to various embodiments. Referring to FIG. 3, a vehicle controlsystem 300 may include a signal processor 310, a controller 320, andstorage 330.

The signal processor 310 may be configured to transmit and receive asignal in a specified frequency band in order to measure the distanceand the angle between the vehicle 10 and an object. For example, thesignal processor 310 may be the rear sensors—110-1 and 110-2 of FIG. 1.

The controller 320 may be connected to the signal processor 310 and thestorage 330. For example, the controller 320 may be a hardware devicesuch as the AP driver 105 or a processor, or instructions (e.g., aprogram, an application, or the like) for performing overall operationsof the vehicle control system 300. The controller 320 may control atleast one of other components (e.g., a hardware or software component)of the vehicle control system 300 and may perform various dataprocessing or operations. According to an embodiment, as at least partof data processing or operation, the controller 320 may store a commandor data received from another component (e.g., a sensor) in a volatilememory, process the command or data stored in the volatile memory, andstore the result data in a non-volatile memory (e.g., the storage 330).According to an embodiment, the controller 320 may include a mainprocessor (e.g., a central processing unit or an application processor)or an auxiliary processor (e.g., a graphic processing unit, an imagesignal processor, a sensor hub processor, or a communication processor)that may be operated independently or together with the main processor.For example, when the controller 320 includes a main processor and anauxiliary processor, the auxiliary processor may be configured to useless power than the main processor or to be specialized for a specifiedfunction. The coprocessor may be implemented separately from the mainprocessor or with a part of the main processor.

In an embodiment, the controller 320 may detect an object outside thevehicle 10, calculate an angle based on the ratio of the relative speedbetween the detected object and the vehicle 10 and the speed of thevehicle 10, and generate or update a phase curve in which the phasedistortion of an input signal is reflected, based on the calculatedangle. In order to calculate the angle, the controller 320 may obtain anobject candidate group among the detected objects based on a firstcondition, calculate the ratio of the relative speed and the speed foreach of the object candidate groups and the angle data accordingly, andthen, filter angle data based on a second condition. In order to updatethe phase curve, the controller 320 may generate a phase curve within aspecified angular range, calculate an offset of the generated phasecurve, and generate a final phase curve through smoothing aftercompensating the phase curve.

The storage 330 may store an instruction for controlling the vehiclecontrol system 300, a control instruction code, control data, or userdata. For example, the storage 330 may include at least one of anapplication program, an operating system (OS), middleware, and a devicedriver. The storage 330 may include one or more of a volatile memory anda non-volatile memory. The volatile memory may include a dynamic randomaccess memory (DRAM), a static RAM (SRAM), a synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), aphase-change RAM (PRAM), a magnetic RAM (MRAM), a resistive RAM (RRAM),a ferroelectric RAM (FeRAM), and the like. The nonvolatile memory mayinclude a read only memory (ROM), a programmable ROM (PROM), anelectrically programmable ROM (EPROM), an electrically erasableprogrammable ROM (EEPROM), a flash memory, and the like. The storage 330may further include a nonvolatile medium such as a hard disk drive(HDD), a solid state disk (SSD), an embedded multi-media card (eMMC),and a universal flash storage (UFS).

FIG. 4 is a detailed block diagram illustrating a signal processoraccording to various embodiments.

Referring to FIG. 4, the signal processor 310 may a transmission (Tx)ramp generator 411, a transmission radio frequency (RF) analog end 412,at least one antenna 413, a reception (Rx) RF analog end 414, and areception digital front end (DFE) 415. The transmission ramp generator411 may convert a signal for detecting an object into a specifiedfrequency. The transmission analog end 412 may transmit a signal throughat least one antenna 413 by processing a signal in a specified frequencyband. For example, the transmission analog end 412 may include a poweramplifier (PA). The reception RF analog end 414 may process a signalreceived through the at least one antenna 413. For example, thereception RF analog end 414 may include a low noise amplifier (LNA), amixer, an intermediate frequency (IF) converter, and an analog-digitalconverter (ADC). The reception DFE 415 may convert the received signalinto a digital signal and transmit the digital signal to the controller320. The controller 320 may calculate an angle through a signal receivedfrom the reception DFE 415 and control the operation of the vehiclecontrol system 300 for correcting a phase curve.

FIGS. 5 to 7 are views illustrating an operation of updating a phasecurve based on a relative speed according to various embodiments.

Referring to FIG. 5, an object 520 may be a stationary object. While thevehicle 10 is driving, the vehicle control system 300 may use the ratioV_(r)/V_(h) of the relative speed V_(r) of the object 520 to the speedV_(h) of the vehicle 10 to calculate the angle θ_(vehicle) expressed asfollowing Equation 2 between the vehicle 10 and the object 520, wherethe calculated angle may be expressed in an a cos function as shown in afirst graph 601 of FIG. 6.

$\begin{matrix}{\text{?} = {\cos^{- 1}\left( \text{?} \right)}} & \left\lbrack {{Equation}2} \right\rbrack\end{matrix}$ ?indicates text missing or illegible when filed

As shown in a second graph 602 of FIG. 6, the vehicle control system 300may calculate the angular coordinates based on the vehicle 10 and theangular coordinates based on the rear sensor 110-2, and may input thephase difference obtained through the input signal at each calculatedangle. When data on the angle and phase difference as above areaccumulated in a specified angle range (e.g., −90 degrees to 90degrees), a phase curve 705 representing the relationship between theangle and the phase difference may be generated as shown in a thirdgraph 703 of FIG. 7.

FIGS. 5 to 7 illustrate an embodiment in which a phase curve isgenerated by using the relative speed between the travelling vehicle 10and the stationary object 520, but according to another embodiment, thevehicle control system 300 may obtain the moving speed of a vehiclemoving in the rear of the vehicle 10 through vehicle-to-vehiclecommunication, and may generate a phase curve by using the speed ratiobetween the vehicle 10 and the vehicle moving in the rear.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of calculating an anglebetween an object and a vehicle based on a relative speed according tovarious embodiments. The operations illustrated in FIGS. 8 to 10 belowmay be implemented by the vehicle control system 300 or may beimplemented by some configuration (e.g., the controller 320) of thevehicle control system 300.

Referring to FIG. 8, in operation 810, the vehicle control system 300may detect an object outside the vehicle 10. According to an embodiment,when the speed of the vehicle 10 is greater than or equal to a thresholdspeed (e.g., 30 km/h) and the angular velocity of the vehicle 10 is lessthan a threshold angular velocity (e.g., yaw rate<5), the vehiclecontrol system 300 may perform an operation of detecting an externalobject.

In operation 820, the vehicle control system 300 may calculate an anglebetween the vehicle 10 and the object based on the ratio of the relativespeed between the object and the vehicle 10 and the speed of the vehicle10.

In operation 830, the vehicle control system 300 may update the phasecurve in which the phase distortion of an input signal is reflectedbased on the calculated angle.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of collecting angle dataaccording to various embodiments. For example, the operationsillustrated in FIG. 9 may be operations that implement operation 820 ofFIG. 8 in more detail.

Referring to FIG. 9, in operation 910, the vehicle control system 300may obtain a candidate group for an object satisfying at least one ofthe following conditions in order to increase the accuracy of angle datafor correcting the phase distortion:

1) Distance between an object and a vehicle is less than or equal to athreshold distance (e.g., 60 m).2) Cosine value of the input signal is less than a threshold value(e.g., 0.15) (i.e., stationary object).3) Threshold power of the input signal is greater than or equal tothreshold power (e.g., 87 dB).4) Ratio (v_(r)/v_(h)) of relative speed and speed is less than or equalto a first threshold value (e.g., 1).

In operation 920, the vehicle control system 300 may calculate angledata based on the ratio of a relative speed to a speed for each of theobtained object candidate groups.

In operation 930, the vehicle control system 300 may filter the angledata in order to increase the accuracy of the angle data. For example,the vehicle control system 300 may obtain the angle data satisfying atleast one of the following conditions.

1) Within a threshold angle range (e.g., −90 degrees to 90 degrees).2) Ratio (v_(r)/v_(h)) of a relative speed and a speed (e.g., 0.997) isless than or equal to a second threshold value (e.g., 0.997) less thanthe first threshold value.3) The angle difference from the angle calculated through detection isless than a threshold angle (e.g., 3 degrees).4) The phase difference from a reference phase curve (e.g., phase curvemeasured by SPC) is less than a first threshold difference (e.g. 0.5 rador 0.8 rad).

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an operation for updating a phasecurve in accordance with various embodiments. For example, theoperations illustrated in FIG. 10 may be operations that implementoperation 830 of FIG. 8 in more detail.

Referring to FIG. 10, in operation 1010, the vehicle control system 300may generate a phase curve within a specified angle range based on thefiltered angle data. For example, the vehicle control system 300 maygenerate a phase curve when information on the phase difference for eachangle is accumulated within an angle range of −40 degrees to 80 degrees(or −40 degrees to 40 degrees) as shown in FIG. 7.

In operation 1020, the vehicle control system 300 may calculate anoffset of the generated phase curve. For example, the vehicle controlsystem 300 may calculate an offset at which an error from the referencephase curve is minimized for each channel (e.g., −40 degrees to 40degrees).

In operation 1030, the vehicle control system 300 may compensate thephase curve. For example, because data may be insufficient in a specificangular range due to the lack of a stationary object, the vehiclecontrol system 300 may replace data in the corresponding angle rangewith data of the reference phase curve.

In operation 1040, the vehicle control system 300 may generate a finalphase curve in which the phase distortion is reflected by using thecompensated phase curve and smoothing.

FIG. 11 is a graph illustrating a phase curve in which a speed error isreflected according to various embodiments.

Referring to FIG. 11, when a phase curve 1101-3 is generated using theratio of the relative speed and the speed, although the phase distortiondue to the bumper may be reflected, due to various causes, theperformance may deteriorate compared to the phase curve 1101-1 measuredby SPC in a specific angle range (e.g., 1150) and a phase curve 1101-2measured by IPC. For example, in the case where the degree of phasedistortion caused by the bumper is severe (e.g., the angle error is morethan 3 degrees) so that the phase curve does not show a monotonicdecrease (i.e., angle ambiguity occurs), the object is located at therear of the vehicle 10 (i.e., the angle is 0 degrees) so that it isdifficult to accurately calculate the arc cosine value, a decrease inaccuracy of a sensor (e.g., a wheel speed sensor) measuring the speed ofthe vehicle 10 or a time delay between sensors occurs, angle ambiguityoccurs for objects located at the same angle left and right due to thesymmetry of the cosine function, or the accumulated data is insufficientdue to insufficient objects stationary in a specific angle range (e.g.,30 to 60 degrees), the accuracy of phase curve correction using theratio of relative speed and the speed may decrease.

The vehicle control system 300 according to embodiments may improve theaccuracy of correction by replacing the data for the phase curve withthe data of the reference phase curve in the range in which theperformance is deteriorated.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of replacing at least apart of a phase curve according to various embodiments.

Referring to FIG. 12, in operation 1210, the vehicle control system 300may generate a phase curve based on a ratio of a relative speed and aspeed.

In operation 1220, the vehicle control system 300 may compare thegenerated phase curve with the reference phase curve, and may determinewhether the phase difference between them is equal to or greater than athreshold difference (e.g., 0.2 rad). In an embodiment, the vehiclecontrol system 300 may perform an operation for each specified anglerange. When the phase difference is less than the threshold difference,the vehicle control system 300 may store the generated phase curve inoperation 1230. When the phase difference is equal to or greater thanthe threshold difference, in operation 1240, the vehicle control system300 may change the data in the corresponding range to data in thereference phase curve.

According to the embodiments disclosed in the present disclosure, thevehicle control system may generate a phase curve reflecting the bumperdistortion feature unique to each vehicle, thereby improve angleaccuracy and more accurately detect objects around the vehicle.

According to the embodiments disclosed in the present disclosure, thevehicle control system may improve the angle performance even throughsimple implementation, thereby reducing the cost and time required forvehicle production.

In addition, various effects that are directly or indirectly understoodthrough the present disclosure may be provided.

Hereinabove, although the present disclosure has been described withreference to embodiments and the accompanying drawings, the presentdisclosure is not limited thereto, but may be variously modified andaltered by those skilled in the art to which the present disclosurepertains without departing from the spirit and scope of the presentdisclosure claimed in the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A vehicle control system comprising: a controllerconfigured to: detect an object outside a vehicle; calculate an anglebased on a ratio of a relative speed between the object and the vehicleto a speed of the vehicle; and update a phase curve reflecting a phasedistortion of an input signal based on the calculated angle.
 2. Thevehicle control system of claim 1, wherein the controller is furtherconfigured to: detect the object when the speed of the vehicle isgreater than or equal to a threshold speed and an angular speed of thevehicle is less than a threshold angular speed.
 3. The vehicle controlsystem of claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to: inorder to calculate the angle, obtain an object candidate group based onat least one of whether a distance between the object and the vehicle isless than or equal to a threshold distance, whether a cosine value ofthe input signal is less than a threshold value, or whether the ratio ofthe relative speed to the speed of the vehicle is equal to or less thana threshold value; calculate angle data based on the ratio of therelative speed to the speed of the vehicle with respect to the objectcandidate group; and filter the angle data.
 4. The vehicle controlsystem of claim 3, wherein the controller is further configured to:filter the angle data based on at least one of whether the angle data iswithin a threshold angle range, whether a ratio of a relative speed to aspeed of the vehicle corresponding to each of the angle data is lessthan or equal to a second threshold value, which is less than the firstthreshold value, whether a difference between an angle determined basedon the input signal and an angle determined based on the angle data isless than a threshold angle, or whether a difference between a phasedifference corresponding to each of the angle data and a phasedifference corresponding to a reference phase curve is less than a firstthreshold difference.
 5. The vehicle control system of claim 3, whereinthe controller is further configured to: in order to update the phasecurve, generate a phase curve within a specified angle range based onthe filtered angle data; calculate an offset of the generated phasecurve; compensate the phase curve of which the offset is calculated; andgenerate a final phase curve through the compensated phase curve andsmoothing.
 6. The vehicle control system of claim 1, wherein thecontroller is further configured to: compare the updated phase curvewith a reference phase curve, store the updated phase curve when a phasedifference between the updated phase curve and the reference phase curveis less than a second threshold difference; and change the updated phasecurve to the reference phase curve when the phase difference between theupdated phase curve and the reference phase curve is equal to or greaterthan the second threshold difference.
 7. The vehicle control system ofclaim 1, further comprising: a signal processor configured to transmitor receive the input signal.
 8. The vehicle control system of claim 1,further comprising: a signal processor including a radar deviceconfigured to transmit or receive a signal in a specified frequencyband.
 9. A method of operating a vehicle control system, the methodcomprising: detecting an object outside a vehicle; calculating an anglebased on a ratio of a relative speed between the object and the vehicleto a speed of the vehicle; and updating a phase curve reflecting a phasedistortion of an input signal based on the calculated angle.
 10. Themethod of claim 9, wherein the detecting of the object includes:detecting the object when the speed of the vehicle is greater than orequal to a threshold speed and an angular speed of the vehicle is lessthan a threshold angular speed.
 11. The method of claim 9, wherein thecalculating of the angle includes: obtaining an object candidate groupbased on at least one of whether a distance between the object and thevehicle is less than or equal to a threshold distance, whether a cosinevalue of the input signal is less than a threshold value, whether apower of the input signal is greater than or equal to a threshold power,or whether a ratio of the relative speed to the speed of the vehicle isequal to or less than a threshold value; calculating angle data based onthe ratio of the relative speed to the speed of the vehicle with respectto the object candidate group; and filtering the angle data.
 12. Themethod of claim 11, wherein the filtering of the angle data includes:filtering the angle data based on at least one of whether the angle datais within a threshold angle range, whether a ratio of a relative speedto a speed of the vehicle corresponding to each of the angle data isless than or equal to a second threshold value, which is less than thefirst threshold value, whether a difference between an angle determinedbased on the input signal and an angle determined based on the angledata is less than a threshold angle, or whether a difference between aphase difference corresponding to each of the angle data and a phasedifference corresponding to a reference phase curve is less than a firstthreshold difference.
 13. The method of claim 10, wherein the updatingof the phase curve includes: generating a phase curve within a specifiedangle range based on the filtered angle data; calculating an offset ofthe generated phase curve; compensating the phase curve of which theoffset is calculated; and generating a final phase curve through thecompensated phase curve and smoothing.
 14. The method of claim 9,further comprising: comparing the updated phase curve with a referencephase curve; and storing the updated phase curve when the phasedifference between the updated phase curve and the reference phase curveis less than a second threshold difference, and changing the updatedphase curve to the reference phase curve when the phase differencebetween the updated phase curve and the reference phase curve is equalto or greater than the second threshold difference.